---
title: Report: "The strike hit the bridge. Collateral damage was limited."… — Soft words for hard things: death and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Report: "The strike hit the bridge. Collateral damage was limited." What is the report trying not to say plainly? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 2 «Soft words for hard things: death and dying» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of eac
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: death and dying

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Report: "The strike hit the bridge. Collateral damage was limited." What is the report trying not to say plainly?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** strike, Collateral damage, report · **What happens:** hit, be, try, not say · **To what, where:** Report · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 2 «Soft words for hard things: death and dying» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/euphemisms/2-death-official-and-slang/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Report: "The strike hit the bridge.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:t2:1
# text = Report: "The strike hit the bridge.
1	Report	report	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	1	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	strike	strike	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	hit	hit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hit** *in a quote* | past | the strike | Report |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme bridge=Co-Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Collateral damage was limited."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:t2:2
# text = Collateral damage was limited."
1	Collateral	collateral	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	damage	damage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	limited	limited	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Collateral damage |  |  |  |  | limited *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What is the report trying not to say plainly?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:t2:3
# text = What is the report trying not to say plainly?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	report	report	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	trying	try	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
9	plainly	plainly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the report |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **try** | gerund | the report *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **not** **say** *speech: assert* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the report *not said here* |  |  |  |  | plainly *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That some ordinary people were hurt or killed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:t2:o1:1
# text = That some ordinary people were hurt or killed
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	det	_	_
3	ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Sub|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	hurt	hurt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hurt** | past · passive |  | That |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **kill** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the soldiers were tired

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:t2:o2:1
# text = That the soldiers were tired
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	soldiers	soldier	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	tired	tired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the soldiers |  |  |  |  | tired *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the weather was bad

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:t2:o3:1
# text = That the weather was bad
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	weather	weather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | that weather |  |  |  |  | bad *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the bridge was not hit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:t2:o4:1
# text = That the bridge was not hit
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	hit	hit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **hit** | past · passive |  | that bridge |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-Theme |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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